KLEM News AM Update July 28, 2010

(LE MARS)--New action and royalty are opening night attractions for the 2010 Plymouth County Fair.

Motocross begins at six tonight in the grandstand. Fair queen Caine Westergard and King Ben Schilmoeller will crown the new royalty at seven in the Pioneer Village.

Fair Board members and other volunteers have prepared the grounds this summer. Fair Board chairman Terry Reuter describes the work as mostly catching up on fix-up jobs.

New sidewalk was added on the east side of the Open Class Exhibit building.

Reuter says the improvements are funded with Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) Le Mars Hotel/Motel Sales Tax (HMST), the Community Foundation of Greater Plymouth County and Plymouth County Board of Supervisors county budget contribution.

According to Reuter, the fair focus is young people in 4-H or F-F-A.

The complete schedule for "The Best Five Days of Summer" is with this story on the KLEM web page and in the KLEM Fairs and Festivals guide or at the fair website www.plymouthcountyfair.org

(LE MARS)--A Sioux City native is the newest Plymouth County Sheriff's Office employee.

The new deputy sheriff, Jacob "Jake" Wingert brings three years of experience and a criminal justice degree to his job as a deputy sheriff. Sheriff Mike Van Otterloo says Wingert is a Sioux City North High School graduate.

Wingert fills a slot that's vacant due to the September first retirement of Sergeant Lynn Steckelberg. Steckelberg is the department's civil deputy handling work that includes garnishments and sheriff's sales.

Van Otterloo says Wingert has started his work prior to Steckelberg's retirement because another deputy on the department, Scott Dorhout, was called to active duty in Afghanistan.

Orange City business is part of food companies' merger

(CINCINNATI)--A business with operations in Orange City is part of a merger by three food companies.

According to the Orange City Chamber of Commerce, Advance Brands employs about 400 workers at its production and research facility.

The combined business, Advance Pierre Foods, will supply value-added protein and convenience foods products to the foodservice, school, retail, club, vending and convenience store markets. Advance Pierre Foods will be based in Cincinnati and operate protein processing facility in three states, including Iowa.

The merger is expected to be completed in two months.

Le Mars man arrested on burglary and vehicle charges

(LE MARS)--A Le Mars man is being held in the Plymouth County jail after his arrest by Le Mars Police.

Twenty-seven-year-old Allen Bradley Clay of Le Mars is charged with felony burglary in the third degree and operating a vehicle without the owner's consent.

Police arrested Clay Sunday after receiving information that a vehicle was taken from 23 Orchard around five in the morning. He was arrested at the location the vehicle was taken from around 6:30 Sunday morning.

Two injured in Sioux City collision

(SIOUX CITY)--A Sioux City man was seriously injured in a two-vehicle accident in Sioux City Tuesday evening.

According to Sioux City Police, a motorcycle and an S-U-V were involved in a collision in Morningside on Gordon Drive.

Officers report the driver of the motorcycle, 48-year-old John Kentner of Sioux City was lying on the roadway unconscious and not breathing. Kentner was taken to Mercy Medical Center in SIoux City for serious injuries.

A 12-year-old who Police did not identify was also listed as being seriously injured and was taken to Mercy, too.

The name of the driver of the S-U-V also has not been released. The accident is still being investigated.

A total of 61-thousand dollars was awarded to the Northwest Iowa Planning and Development Commission which serves nine counties including Sioux, O'Brien, Lyon and Buena Vista Counties.

3,000 gallons of sewage pour into Des Moines River.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) A power surge at a pumping station allowed sewage to pour into the Des Moines River on Tuesday.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says about 3,000 gallons of untreated wastewater flowed into the river after a power surge took the station's pumps and emergency alarm out of service.

The pumping station, located near the Birdland Marina, was repaired and put back into service.

Officials say there's no threat to Des Moines' drinking water because the discharge happened downstream from where the city draws its water.

2 IA counties called disaster area for May storms

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) President Barack Obama has declared a disaster area for two southeastern Iowa counties affected by severe storms and flooding in May.

Des Moines County and Lee County will receive federal funds to help them recover from storms and floods on May 12-13. The money will help them rebuild damaged infrastructure and cover the costs of emergency work.

Gov. Chet Culver asked the Obama administration on July 7 for a disaster declaration for 35 counties affected by flooding and storms since June 1. Culver's office says additional counties may be added to the disaster declaration following damage assessments that are due by Aug. 1.

Culver on Monday requested a preliminary damage assessment from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for counties affected by last weekend's flooding. On Tuesday, Iowa's five congressmen wrote to Obama asking him to speed the process.

Trial delayed for suspect in rest stop killing.

MARENGO, Iowa (AP) The trial for a Nebraska man charged in the shooting death of a maintenance worker at a rest stop on Interstate 80 in Iowa has been rescheduled.

Thirty-two-year-old Peter I. Riggs, of Columbus, Neb., is now set to stand trial for first-degree murder in Iowa County District Court on Oct. 5. His trial had been due to start Aug. 30. His pretrial conference has also been rescheduled, and is now set for Sept. 20.

Riggs is charged in the shooting death of Jeffrey McAdam, of Victor, on May 29 in the men's restroom at the rest stop near Victor, about 70 miles east of Des Moines. McAdam died at the scene from a single gunshot wound.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Shortage causes runway light outage at CR airport

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) Flights have resumed at the Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids after an electrical shortage blacked out all lights on the runway.

Airport Director Tim Bradshaw says two flights were diverted and a third was delayed Monday night when a shortage in a sign panel on the runway caused the lights to go out.

Bradshaw says Tuesday that the problem was discovered about 8:40 p.m. during a regular inspection of the runway. It was fixed around midnight.

Bradshaw says a United Airlines flight from Chicago to diverted to Des Moines while an American Airlines flight from Chicago was turned back. An Allegiant Airlines flight to Las Vegas was delayed from 9 p.m. to midnight.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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